Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank (ADIB), one of the region’s leading Islamic banks, has announced the financial close of a bridge facility for the construction of a cement manufacturing unit in Sudan.

The six month facility will be taken out by a US$ 130 million medium-term facility, the terms of which are currently being finalized, and has been arranged on a club basis together with Bank Audi sal – Audi Saradar Group of Lebanon. Al Takamul is the cement manufacturing arm of ASEC Cement Holding – Egypt, a growing cement production group in the Middle East and Africa created by Citadel Capital and a group of leading regional co-investors.

Mr. Tirad Mahmoud, ADIB CEO, commented: “ADIB has a proven track record in providing finance for basic industries. Our ability to structure sophisticated Sharia'a compliant financing deals with other banking partners, as well as our commitment to facilitating regional development, is highly attractive to corporate customers looking for a partner who can understand their vision and share in the associated risks."

Mr Abdalla El Ebiary, Managing Director of Citadel Capital, based in Egypt, said: "ADIB has provided us with a top class service throughout our transaction discussions. It was important to us to have an Islamic finance partner involved to reflect our common values across our negotiations and resulting agreement."

The cement manufacturing unit is to launch by the last quarter of 2009 and will have a production capability of 1.5 million tones per annum.

A signing ceremony has been held in Beirut where senior representatives of Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank, Bank Audi and Al Takamul Cement finalized the agreement. Pharos Investment Banking acted as advisors to Al Takamul and ASEC.